Hello all, and thank you for having me here! This is my first post, and thought i would share my newest truck, 1999 0023 XP8. First, a little about me:

My name is Russell, I own a business here in Austin, Tx called Bandit Customs. We specialize in Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury repair and modifications, but have a special interest in Explorers (and by extension Mountaineers, Aviators, Rangers, Navajo's, etc). Ive only ever driven Explorers since I was 16 and still have my first Explorer to this day. that was 14 years ago haha. My business partner shares a similar story and between us have owner somewhere around 35-50 explorers. Having said all that, we have always wanted our own XP8 vehicle, but never really could find one that needed the Bandit touch so to speak, until by chance we came across this one.

It was directed to us from a friend who said he saw it parked for a while and thought we might be interested in buying it. I went out to look at it, and knew I had to have it. The truck had been wrecked in a head on collision sometime in March 2015 and had been sitting since. the owner (who is the original owner by the way) wanted to get rid of it and we cut a deal and brought him home. Plan is to rebuild and restore it back to showroom quality. Granted i do not have much XP8 experience, but have loads of Explorer experiance, and seeing as how XP8's are really explorers in a track suit, i feel we can bring this truck back from the brink of death. So here yea go!

Sorry for delay! Since last time I posted, I had moved to the new house and had to take the fleet along with me. But progess has resumed on the XP8!

Last we saw, i was stripping the explorer down:

Anywho, got the entire truck stripped down, gutted, and repaired and set on a spare frame i had to make it a roller chassis. Then got him sent over to paint where most of the dents were taken out and entire truck reshot:

and the obligitory hoot shot showing the paint:

Next it to media blast the frame after the repairs and frame straightening to get it ready for paint and start reassembling everything back into the vehicle. Sorry progress has been fairly slow, but when trying to rebuild several other explorers at the same time as well as customer repairs..well, you know how it goes!

Next it to media blast the frame after the repairs and frame straightening to get it ready for paint and start reassembling everything back into the vehicle. Sorry progress has been fairly slow, but when trying to rebuild several other explorers at the same time as well as customer repairs..well, you know how it goes!

Well, a little bit of a setback last night. Got the 5.0 on the test stand last night to get it fired up and listen to it for the first time since i bought the truck. It was then that I discovered a crack in the oil filter caused from the frame bending into it meaning after the wreck the engine was probably still running puking oil everywhere. I swapped it out and put fresh oil in it and started it up and sure enough, motor is knocking. I suspect a spun bearing as the noise is coming form the lower end. Its not as bad as ive heard before, howver, engine will need a full rebuild now.

Ok, so more updates. After finding out the motor is knocking and needa a full tear down and rebuild, i decided to change plans a bit with the truck. My original goal was to keey everything original (as much as possible considering the collision) and rebuild the truck exactly as Saleen did. However, after the revelation of a (currently) useless 5.0, i decided to change that. I had a 2000 Limited 5.0 AWD i bought as a donor for another project (my 1992 Mazda Navajo) however, considering i need to get this truck running by end of june, and a motor rebuild would knock that goal in the trash, we are now using the Limited donor drivetrain, as well as converting the this XP8 not only to AWD (originally 2wd) but also doing a Limited trim out - meaning the XP8 is now getting the following features:

Automatic Temp Control (digital HVAC)
Message Center
Memory Seats
Heated Seats
Redunadant Audio Controls (not at first, since i will have to have a steering wheel made that has the carbon fiber inlays)
Heated Side mirrors (while still using the carbon fiber overlays)

We will still use the factory XLT leather seats, however, we will simply move over the memory seat trac and heated functions and install them into the original seats.

Now that i have a game plan going on, i can now move forward with installing more of the body. Last you saw, we had just got the truck back from paint

Got some more progress on the Saleen. Since last post, a new carlite windshield has been installed, got the rear hatch all buttoned up and painted, and also ordered brand new (from Ford) OEM carpet that was sitting collecting dust at a dealer in kansas. Also got the headliner reinstalled and most of the upper body trim on the interior. With the limited conversion, I am also gaining the rear subwoofer assembly and since the stock sub is usually always blown on these Explorers, i replaced it with a pioneer shallow mount sub along with a new 1ch pioneer amp. It will be installed onto the factory enclosure. Also pictured is the replacement drivetrain from the limited donor to facilitate the awd conversion. The engine will be torned down and resealed along with some minor parts getting powdercoated, and the transmission is being rebuilt professionally as i type this. Next step is to remove the body so i can start wirewheeling the frame and axle in order to get it ready for paint and to install the drivetrain (hopefully by next weekend) so the body can go back on it.

Got the body popped off last weekend and brought the frame back to the house for stripping, wirewheeling, primer, and then paint. Will also clean up the axle so it can be bolted back into place and the engine tear down began last night so we can start resealing the engine. shooting for painting the frame sunday and getting it all put back together over next week

Got the chassis completed! Spent all weekend getting it sanded and painted, along with installing all the original Saleen specific bits to the chassis. The rest of the week shall now be focused on getting the drivetrain back together and installed into the chassis so hopefully I can drop the body back on by the end of the week. also in the pictures you can see where I converted the factory 2wd truck into an AWD truck by adding the front diff, cv axles, knuckles, and hub assemblies along with new rotors. we re-used the powdercoated calipers and brackets because they cleaned up nice.

Got more done this weekend and on the 4th. Now that the chassis is pretty much completed, attention moved over to the drivetrain. The donor motor ran fine, just needed a hella cleaning, but the transmission was completely junked up - the trans cooler inside the radiator cracked, which caused coolant to mix inside the trans, completely destroying all the soft parts. So when we had the drivetrain pulled out of the donor, i had the trans rebuilt professionally with new clutchs, bands, solenoid pack, gaskets and seals, and new pump. when i got it back, i wirewheeled it and cleaned it up and just painted it with some aluminum style paint to look good and prevent oxidation. Next, was simply resealing the engine with new gaskets, new water pump, and new seals all around. Due to texas heat and working outside, work does move slow, but steady. also got the (new to me) torque monster headers installed and ready to go. tonight, should be installing the new flex plate, rear main seal, and hopefully stab the transmission in behind the motor. after that, its a matter of cleaning and painting the transfer case, drive shafts, exhaust system, and fuel tank and the body should be ready to go back on to the frame by sunday-ish. Anyway, more pictures:

Got the rest of the frame put together - one of the acc brackets got cleaned up and painted and installed, got the rear sway bar installed, high pressure power steering line, and the motor mounts / torque monster headers installed and torque down. Also gound the flexplate was bent somehow, so we replaced that and after that, it was the fuel tank and next the transmission along with the cooler lines.

got the body back on Friday night! So here you see that the chassis got its little bits installed, and all was ready to drop everything back in place. now its just a matter of hooking everything back up and buying some of the last needed parts (a/c compressor, radiator, condenser, accumulator, little interior brackets here and there, fluids) and we should be able to get it running under its own power in the next few weeks. will be taking a couple weeks of as we have a couple of customer paid engine swaps to do.